Sunday, April 19, 2009

In reading some of the comments posted around the 'net, it seems that people either loved or hated this show. From my perspective, it was a brilliant show!

Throbbing Gristle started the night by playing a live soundtrack to Derek Jarman's 1974 film "In the Shadow of the Sun". According to Simon Ford (author of Wreckers of Civilization), the original soundtrack "revelled in distortion, chance, and formlessness". Throbbing Gristle's performance last Thursday held true to Ford's quote. Cosi, Peter and Chris all sat in front of computer workstations and radically reworked the soundtrack from its original 1980 release. Genesis didn't have a computer but he created a variety of sounds using a bass and other instruments.

Here is a brief clip of the live soundtrack that someone filmed from the crowd.

After this first set, Throbbing Gristle spent 60+ minutes doing a record signing. This is the first time that I've ever seen a band break up a set with a "meet & greet" but it was kind of cool. The band stayed until everyone got their merch signed. I've never been an autograph collector but I brought along my copy of the Fetish box set and it made my day getting it signed.

Continuing to reset traditional expectations for a live concert, there was an "opening" act - Bruce McClure - prior to Throbbing Gristle's second set. McClure's set was somewhat interesting but it went on for way too long and there wasn't much to watch. While there were some images being projected on the video screen, the only thing moving on stage was the security guard. It seemed a bit strange hearing all of the computer generated sounds but seeing no one. (I read a day or so ago on another blog that McClure was in the back of the house mixing the music live. )

Throbbing Gristle came back on for their second set just after 11PM and played for about 75 minutes. They started with a fairly straight-forward version of "Very Friendly" but the remainder of the set had a decidedly tribal feel. A number of the songs were significantly reworked so I didn't recognize all of the material but the set list included "Discipline", "Hamburger Lady" and "What A Day".

There are a couple of good quality live videos from the show posted to YouTube that did a great job of capturing the feel of the second set.

Throbbing Gristle - "Very Friendly"

Throbbing Gristle - "Discipline"

After playing playing some West Coast dates (which included Coachella Festival earlier today), Throbbing Gristle are coming back to Brooklyn Masonic Temple for a show on Tuesday, April 28th. The show is sold out but there are tickets currently selling for face value (and below) on eBay.